A Trip & A Bath Part Tres

Still on day three and the adventure continued. Erwin & Linda were a little concerned that their car was playing up a little. So they decided to head on to Lavina to find accommodation for the night, before it got too dark. Tami had other plans. On the other side of the lake, lay the 'oldest' village in Bali. We had a map of Bali on our travels and on it there was a little drawing of some human bones. It seemed somewhat out of place on such a beautiful and peaceful island. It was only when we got here that we actually learned that this little village, which has apparently been around since the 15th century, has a cemetery, separated from the village just a little boat ride away. The peculiar thing about this cemetery, is that they bury their dead above ground and this was enough to tickle Tami's curiosity. Personally, I didn't think I'd be too worried if I missed it, but as they say, when in Rome... So we drove around the lake, sometime along a road just wide enough to take the car and with scarily steep sections that looked like they led straight into the lake. Luckily for us, the brakes worked! When we arrived at the village, we were confronted by a bit of a crowd. All of them men and boys and not a single woman in sight. In total, probably about fifty, scattered around the one road that ran right against the lake. Nobody seemed to pay much attention to me, but Tami was the subject of a hundred eyes as soon as she stepped out of the car. Being a tall, attractive, blonde Californian, she might be used to that sort of attention but there was something a little eerie about this place. We got the distinct feeling that if they wanted, they could probably chuck us over into the lake and everyone would be non the wiser. They knew what we wanted, of course. Many tourists came to the village to be taken round to the cemetery so they sent out their negotiator and only speaker of English. Tami and I had discussed prices before we'd got there but such was the awkwardness of the situation, that we decided to tread a little carefully on the monetary front. In the end, he settled for 170'000 rupiahs. Just under £10. We thought that was pretty reasonable in the end, seeing as we'd heard that they charge some tourists anything up to £50-£60 a go! Tami's blonde locks probably aided that particular situation! The next thing we knew, he was busy with all the other guys, trying to summon a boat. The boat that arrived to take us was rickety, full of holes and powered by two little old men and their oars! It took about 10 minutes to get there. The burial site is around a little peak and is completely cut off from any roads or paths. This is so that no people or dogs can get to the site, to disturb the bones of the dead. The boat is the only way that you can get there. Again, there was quite an eerie feeling to this place too. At first, we could only see signs of a little temple located near the shore. As the boat rasped up against the beach side pebbles and came to a halt, our 'guide' jumped out and helped us both onto shore. The site itself is less than a minutes walk, away from the temple and behind some trees. The first thing you see when you walk up to it are three rows of skulls, neatly placed next to each other and all facing you. To the right is a massive tree called the Banyan tree and is said to be over 1100 years old. Apparently, this tree gives off a very special scent to mask the odor of the rotting corpses. Admittedly, I didn't smell much but it had been a while since the last body had been buried there. Four months to be exact and our guide said he knew him well. A well respected 'elder' of the village, lay to our left and was covered only by a sarong up to his head and a stack of bamboo's pyramidically place above him. Next to it, were six other bodies that had visibly decomposed, far more than the first. Tradition in the village says that they can only bury six above ground at any one time. When another dies, the oldest one there is removed to make room and his skull is placed under the Banyan tree with the others. This is not actually the Balinese way. The Balinese cremate their dead but this little village is very unlike the Balinese people and once again, tradition dictates they do this in this fashion. Every year, around Nyepi - the Balinese new year - a great ceremony takes place on the lake to commemorate the dead. Our guide said that we should attend it, as it was a truly magnificent occasion but being over a month away, we politely declined his invitation and informed him that, next time, maybe :-) We were taken back to the village and were subsequently greeted by the fifty-odd men again. It was all kinda spooky and I'm not all too sure that I liked it very much. In the end, Tami and pretended to be on our honeymoon, for practicalities sake... of course. When we finally managed to flee the joint, we started on our trip to Lavina, only to meet up with Erwin & Linda, not 30 minutes down the road with a busted radiator. It had taken a few hours to patch up but looked like it was ready, just as we rolled passed them. Apart from getting a little lost and having to drive in near zero visibility for a lot of the way, the ride to the hotel was otherwise event less and we parked in for a good nights rest.